Panthers players find value in Olympic break

CORAL SPRINGS — Panthers coach Peter Horachek had concerns heading into the NHL's Olympic break, the biggest being that his players wouldn't be training with the team for almost two weeks.

The Panthers will enter the final quarter of the season 13 points behind Detroit for the final wild-card spot, with seven teams to leap. A few early losses after the break could extinguish the Panthers' already -flickering playoff chances, and Horachek' was worried that if the Panthers players didn't come back to South Florida ready, those losses would certainly follow.

Maybe he shouldn't worry. The Panthers practiced for the second time in as many days Friday, building up to their Feb. 27 return game against the Washington Capitals. Although Friday's session included plenty of conditioning drills, Horachek said he is happy with how his squad has performed since returning to the ice.

"They all seem to have come back ready to practice and wanting to practice — it's been a good approach so far. Two good practices, I think," he said.

While Horachek was fearing the worst during the break, the consensus in the Panthers' dressing room is that the break was a welcome respite during a grueling season that will only get worse in the final month and a half.

Panthers rookie center Nik Bjugstad has never played a full, 82-game NHL season, having played at-most 40 during his college hockey days at the University of Minnesota. For him, getting a break after playing 52 games was needed.

"Obviously I'm not used to 82 games in a season," he said. "I think this rest will do everybody good for everyone that did not get to participate in the Olympics. We're going to feel rejuvenated."

Bjugstad went home to Minnesota over the break, but instead of sleeping on his parents' couch and playing video games, he practiced with the Gophers, who are ranked second nationally.

"They had a missing defenseman, so I was playing D. I can't skate backwards," Bjugstad said. "I stayed in shape by doing that."

The break was also well-received by players looking to heal injuries accrued during the season's first 58 games. At the top of the list of banged-up players is defenseman Erik Gudbranson .

The 22-year old Canadian defenseman is still coming back from fracturing his orbital bone, an injury that hindered his play so much that Horachek made him a "healthy" scratch for three games before the break. Horachek went as far to blame Gudbranson's full-cage face mask for his poor play.

The injury has healed nicely during the break — Gudbranson will be safey cage-free next Thursday.

But to Horachek, the biggest advantage of the break — if he had to name one — is the mental rest the players received.

"A lot of it is mental perspective — who takes advantage of it," he said.

Forward Tomas Fleischmann seemed to take advantage. He said Friday that he did all he could to get away from the job during the break.

A clear mind might do Fleischmann some good. He went into the break in a funk. Fleischmann hasn't had a multi-point game since Dec. 5 and will re-enter the season with a five-game pointless streak.

But after decompressing for two weeks, Fleischmann said his mind is clear and that he was eager to get back to practice.

"[I shut] off my brain from hockey," the 29-year-old said. "Sometimes you watch the Olympics on TV, but that was basically it. It was about making sure that you get rested."

No word on Olympic injuries

Injured forwards Aleksander Barkov and Tomas Kopecky are both back in South Florida after suffering injuries while playing in the Olympics.

Barkov injured his knee in Finland's second game of the tournament. Initial reports out of that country said that the injury will likely knock the 18-year-old forward out for the rest of the season, but surgery won't be necessary.

Kopecky suffered a concussion after Slovenia's Sabahudan Kovacevic connected his elbow with the Panthers forward's head.

The Panthers trainers have evaluated both players, but the team sent both for further evaluation in Coral Gables on Friday. Official word on their injuries expected to come out over the weekend.